Marine economics and weird music

10 Good things about Canberra

When I told the lady of my B&B in Brisbane that I was going to Canberra, she looked puzzled: why do you want to go there? I’m in Sydney now, and when I told the bloke at my hotel’s reception that I had just come in from Canberra and all he said was: “I’m sorry.” Today somebody even apologised for Canberra!Come on guys, it’s not that bad! Here is a list of good things about Canberra.

No Few distractions. It is the perfect place to work on your research vision and your Python modelling skills.

It’s supposedly one of the best places to spot kangaroos. There are so many of them that there are culling programs in place.

It has four seasons, so you can enjoy Winter in July.

There is no Starbucks. The Evil Mermaid has laid her greedy claws on places as beautiful as Ubud on Bali, the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia, and just about every street corner in downtown Santa Barbara, California, but so far Canberra has remained untainted by her presence.

When you feel homesick, the shops have kale and the pubs serve bangers & mash, which is a little bit like a Dutch stamppot met worst. (Why aren’t Dutch pubs serving boerenkool met worst? It’s the perfect pub food!)

There are a couple of decent Asian restaurants around, among which a vegetarian Vietnamese restaurant with delicious banh xeo.

It has the Wig & Pen: a traditional brewpub with some delicious homebrewn beers.

It might be just about the greenest city of Australia, with lots and lots of parks.

It’s a good place to cycle: many bike paths, and reasonably good traffic. Sometimes it’s difficult to see where you’re supposed to cycle though.